Pope pledges to fight "evil" of drugs in Mexico

LEON, Mexico (Reuters) - Pope Benedict landed in Mexico on Friday promising to "unmask the evil" of drug trafficking in a country that has been wracked by a surge in gang violence over the past five years.

The pope began his three-day visit in the central city of Leon with a festive welcome from the president and traditional Mexican mariachis after making strong statements aboard his papal plane about the country's drug violence.

"We must do whatever is possible to combat this destructive evil against humanity and our youth," he told reporters, referring to the some 50,000 people killed since 2007 as rival drug trafficking cartels fight each other and the state.

"It is the responsibility of the Church to educate consciences, to teach moral responsibility and to unmask the evil, to unmask this idolatry of money which enslaves man, to unmask the false promises, the lies, the fraud that is behind drugs," he said.

The relentless bloodletting was in the mind of many of those waiting to see Benedict in Leon, a Roman Catholic stronghold that has avoided the worst of the brutal turf wars.

Hundreds of Catholics dressed in white t-shirts and caps - many of them young people let out of school for the day - lined the streets to see the pope pass on his ride from the airport to where he will stay the night.

Benedict, who turns 85 next month and is for the first time using a cane to walk in public, will rest for 24 hours to recover from jet lag.

His main message will be delivered on Sunday at a massive outdoor service where hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend. Several young believers cheering on the sidelines of the pope's planned route on Friday stood in front of a large banner that read "Pope, pray that the violence ends, pray that peace returns." "Violence is the country's biggest priority. There are some places where you can't even set foot outside it's so dangerous," said 16-year-old Martin Zamora who hung the sign with his Catholic youth group. "Many young people have decided to join up with organized crime instead of fighting it. That's what the pope is coming here for, to help save young people."

The pope's strong words on the drug menace should offer comfort to Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has staked his reputation on beating down the cartels.

The government's inability to stem the violence has eroded support for Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN), which has strong Catholic roots and faces an uphill struggle to retain the presidency in elections in July.

A survey by polling firm Gabinete de Comunicacion Estrategica (GCE) published in newspaper Milenio on Friday showed 72 percent of respondents wanted the pope to speak out on the security situation in Mexico.

ABUSE SCANDALS

Benedict, who will also travel to Cuba next week, hopes to rally the faithful in the world's second most populous Catholic nation as more Mexicans are lured to evangelical Protestant churches.

But the German pope faces a challenge generating the same kind of fervor as his charismatic Polish predecessor, Pope John Paul, who was beloved in Latin America and drew pulsating crowds when he criss-crossed the region in his 27-year papacy.

Highlighting the growing religious divisions in Mexico, a large Protestant church in Leon held a service with hundreds of worshippers on Thursday, prominently displaying a sign that read "We are not Roman Catholics.

The Vatican has been stung by accusations of child abuse by priests in parishes around the world - including revelations about Mexican religious leader Marcial Maciel, who founded a prominent Catholic order, the Legionaries of Christ.

Maciel, who died in 2008 at the age of 87, was disgraced by allegations of sexual abuse and drug addiction.

During the pope's visit, religious scholar Bernardo Barranco will present a new book by ex-Legionaries with scores of leaked Vatican documents the authors say prove the Holy See knew about Maciel's molestation of young boys and morphine use for decades.

"The enthusiasm (about the pope's visit) felt in Leon, is not the same in the rest of the country. The abuses by Father Maciel have cast a shadow," Barranco said in an interview.

Benedict has apologized for priest abuse in the past but has no plans to meet with Mexican victims.

"There is so much suffering in Mexico that to narrowly focus on just one issue would be extreme," said Father Jorge Martinez, an official from Mexico's Episcopal Conference, when asked if the pope would address questions about Maciel's legacy.

The pope heads to Cuba on Monday in a visit meant to bolster the position of the Church there and help the communist island move towards democracy. Communism, he said on Friday, no longer works in Cuba.